Castle Plan
| Castle Plan | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Kurdish–Turkish conflict | |||
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| Belligerents | |||
 TurkeyJITEM, Special Forces Command, Police Special Operation Teams, Village guards and others |
 PKK
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The Castle Plan (Turkish: Kale Planı) was a Turkish government plan to widen the range of means used to fight the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). This included using the resources of the Counter-Guerrilla, such as the Grey Wolves, as well as police and army units such as JITEM and the Special Forces Command, to assassinate PKK members and supporters.
The plan was approved by the National Security Council under President Turgut Özal and Prime Minister Süleyman Demirel, but not put into effect immediately due to the opposition of Özal and Commander of the Gendarmerie of Turkey Eşref Bitlis. Özal in particular favoured attempts to move forward the peace process, which produced the PKK's first cease-fire declaration on 20 March 1993. Eşref Bitlis died in a suspicious plane crash on 17 February 1993, and Özal died on 17 April 1993 in suspicious circumstances, leading to the postponement of a meeting of the National Security Council at which he was planning to propose a major pro-Kurdish reform package. A month later the May 24, 1993 PKK ambush ensured the end of the peace process. Former PKK commander Şemdin Sakık maintains the attack was part of the Doğu Çalışma Grubu's coup plans. The Castle Plan was put into effect after Tansu Çiller became Prime Minister on 25 June 1993.
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Wikipedia